A Labrador Retriever named Keith chases a toy in a public fountain on a hot summer day in Boston Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A heat wave threatening temperatures as high as 110 degrees F (43 C) from Friday through the weekend moved toward the eastern and central United States, igniting safety warnings.

"Friday is going to be bad. Saturday is going to be really, really bad," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a video posted on social media on Thursday. "Take it seriously."

Extreme heat and humidity was predicted to grip the urban corridor from Washington to Philadelphia and New York beginning on Friday, with overnight temperatures no cooler than 80 degrees F (27 degrees C), said meteorologist Jim Hayes of the National Weather Service.

"It will be about as sweltering as it gets in some places in the eastern and central United States," Hayes said.

"We're really more concerned about the combination of high temperatures and high humidity causing people stress, because it's more difficult to cool yourself down when there's moisture in the air," he said.

In New York, de Blasio urged residents to stay hydrated and avoid leaving children in cars. He also advised New Yorkers to look out for others, especially those with health problems and seniors, and to locate the city's 500 cooling centers through the link nyc.gov/beattheheat.

"This is serious stuff. Hottest it's been in many, many years. Let's be safe out there," the mayor said in the video.

A cold front was expected to break through late on Sunday, bringing the mercury down to more typical July temperatures of 85 to 90 degrees F (29 to 32 degrees C) on Monday and Tuesday, Hayes said.

(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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